▪ Blood for all: researchers have discovered two bacterial enzymes that can efficiently remove immune-triggering sugar molecules from red blood cells, thereby turning A, B and AB blood types into the universal type O.
Nature Biotechnology, April
▪ New car smell—a stew of volatile organic compounds—is not toxic, at least not to human cells in culture. The chemicals did aggravate the cells' immune response, suggesting that people with allergies should beware.
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Environmental Science&Technology, April 1
▪ Lower-dose chemo: a fastscreening process using small interfering RNA molecules has uncovered 87 genes that affect chemotherapy sensitivity; silencing some of those genes, for instance, made lung cancer cells 10,000 times more sensitive to the drug Taxol.
Nature, April 12
▪ Planets of other solar systems might have plants whose dominant colors are yellow, red or even “infrared.” NASA scientists say they can predict the foliage color by the type of light emitted by the parent star.
Astrobiology, March
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